X Marks The Spot Where Ratings Quit

Of the 391 films that were rated by the movie industry's ratings board last year, how many do you think got an X?

Twenty-five? 50? 100? You may be surprised to learn that the correct answer is zero. Zip. Zilch.

No, this doesn't mean that there were absolutely no X-rated films in 1986. A quirk in the ratings system allows a producer to self-apply an X (no one under 17 admitted) rating -- but no other rating -- without going through the usual procedures. Still, it appears that as a rating for all but the most marginal releases, X is deader than Norman Bates' mother.

G isn't doing too well either, incidentally. The board, which is administered by the Motion Picture Association of America, gave G (general audiences) ratings to only 9 of the 391 movies. Of the rest, 83 were rated PG (parental guidance), 72 were rated PG-13 (parents strongly cautioned) and 227 were rated R (restricted). In contrast, the figures for 1985 included 15 Gs, 75 PGs, 65 PG-13s, and 200 Rs.

Last year's zero total for X-rated films is the logical extension of a pattern that saw the board give only one movie an X rating in 1985 and three in 1984.

Oscar update: There's a good-news, bad-news story to tell about the upcoming Academy Awards. The good news is that a campaign by some movie- industry insiders to eliminate or drastically reduce the time on the program allotted to awards for documentaries has been thwarted. The bad news is that a campaign by some movie-industry insiders to eliminate or drastically reduce the time on the program allotted to awards for documentaries has been thwarted.

That's right: The good news is the bad news.

It is good news for anyone who cares about the future of the documentary film. That few minutes of air time on the Oscar broadcast has incalculable publicity value, not just for individual documentaries but for the form as a whole.

It's bad news, however, for the Oscar watcher who doesn't care much about documentaries and would like the show to get to the big awards -- like best picture and best actor and actress -- sooner.

Personally, I'm glad the documentaries are staying in. What I'd really like to see eliminated are those fatuous production numbers. This year, why not take that production-number time and give it to clips from movie classics?

The new Hollywood: While we're waiting for Disney and Universal to get going on those movie studios they say they're going to build in Central Florida, let's take a moment to remind ourselves that this state is already doing pretty well in the movie business. Florida's Department of Commerce recently estimated that $119 million was spent on major motion-picture and television projects in Florida last year, up from $114 million in 1985.

Florida is ranked third in the nation for total film production, after California and New York. Among the 39 movie and TV projects filmed in the state last year were Vengeance, Parent Trap II, Russkies and Shallow Grave.

Well, I suppose they can't all be masterpieces.

Contest update: The entries are in for Florida's third annual screenwriting contest, co-sponsored by the Florida Endowment for the Humanities and the state's Department of Commerce. A total of 95 manuscripts were received -- up from last year's 83. Six winners, who will get $500 each and a trip to California to meet with studio representatives, will probably be announced early in April.